I was brought up in Hull, but in 1964 I loaded a van with all my paintings and drove down to London knowing I was never going back. I’ve been at my present address near Gloucester Road since 1981, apart from a 20-year gap when my partner Caroline and I lived in the Hotel Chelsea in New York. This is my place.
I’ve seen Kensington change over the years. It used to be quite studenty. In a way, it still is, but it’s become much more gentrified and upmarket in that time.
Best eating and drinking
Sally Clarke has a superlative restaurant on Kensington Church Street. Her mentor was Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame, so it’s that classic American take on French cooking.
Maggie Jones’s on Old Court Place was Princess Margaret’s favourite restaurant, and they renamed it in the early Seventies after the alias she’d use when booking. I try to get seated in the basement as I like to watch them cook.
Memories of India on Gloucester Road is the place for first-rate Indian food, and it’s almost next door to Guillam Coffee House, where I get my coffee. If I go to a pub it’ll be The Builders Arms around the corner, which does a mean pub lunch.
Where I work out
I’m not a runner, but I do walk a lot. Most days I’ll put some afrobeats on in the studio and dance for almost an hour. Although I’m ancient and a little bit unsteady, I’m really reckless when I dance.
For a culture fix
We’ve got the big ones like the V&A and the Design Museum, which is making great strides towards the arts too. The Ai Weiwei show that’s on at the moment is brilliant.
I don’t go to the Royal Albert Hall enough, considering it’s five minutes away. Patti Smith had the most amazing concert there around 18 months ago, and everybody was up on their feet. My old studio in New York was where Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe lived together.
Back in the day we were also blessed with arthouse cinemas, and the Ciné Lumière on Queensberry Place is creating a similar kind of atmosphere. It reminds me of the old Paris Pullman on Drayton Gardens.
To commune with nature
Holland Park is a little jewel of a park, and Kensington Gardens has got some lovely wild bits. I’m trying to get better at identifying birdsong, and you can hear so many blue tits and finches there, as well as perhaps a few too many parrots. I’ll walk a mile in one straight line from Kensington Gardens to the end of Hyde Park and then go all the way around.
There are too many beautiful garden squares to mention. Whenever I vary my walks I end up in a different one.
Grocery shopping
We’ve got a Waitrose and a Marks on the high street, but I try to use the smaller suppliers, like Lidgate’s Butchers on Holland Park Avenue. Ross Food & Wine on Gloucester Road is a brilliant little grocery and deli with a wide range of fruit. I’ve been popping in for day-to-day bits for 40 years, on and off.
On a Saturday morning I’ll go down to Pimlico Road farmers’ market to meet Joe Tilson a fellow Royal Academician and his wife Jos. We’ll sit and have a natter.
Getting around
I gave up my car in the Seventies. The number 9 bus takes me to the Royal Academy, and the 49 takes me to Green & Stone on Fulham Road, which is where I get my art materials.
I’m so impatient that if a bus isn’t imminent, I’ll get a black cab. I love the chat. Some of the drivers are miserable but most are really fantastic.
Dream street
There are some beautiful purpose-built artists’ studios tucked away behind Scarsdale Villas. I’m not above coveting other people’s studios or houses.
The artist Ken Howard had a dream house, and I remember him saying to me: “David, there’s no way you’re not going to be jealous when you see my studio.”
Something you only see in Kensington
It’s got to be golden Albert, gazing at his Hall. There must be more photos of that in the world than anything else. It’s so gilded that it glistens in the sunshine.
What’s the catch?
Loud supercars. They see the area as a nought-to-60 acceleration challenge.
In three words
It’s a neighbourhood.
The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition is on from June 13-August 20.
Schools
Fox Primary School, Our Lady of Victories RC School and The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School are all rated outstanding by Ofsted.
Local secondaries, clustered in South Kensington, tend to be private.
What it costs
Buying in Kensington
Average flat price: £1,599,920
Average house price: £4,563,050
Renting in Kensington
Average flat: £6,080 pcm
Average house: £9,490 pcm
